Examples Of Economic Inequality In The United States

791 Words4 Pages

Brice Kolle

Mrs. Morton & Dr. Thacker

English II Honors CP5 & US History CP3

7 December 2015

Economic Inequality in the United States

Economic inequality in the United States is growing. The topic has been floating around since America became a country. Magazines such as Forbes and The Atlantic have written multiple articles discussing the problem, and data reports and statistical analyses have helped to uncover a particular question: Is history repeating itself? From The War Between the States to modern day, economic inequality has not only been repeating, but increasing. It is apparent in the economic inequality during the 1860's, the increasing economic inequality, and the income inequality that is turning America into an oligarchy. …show more content…

For starters, the wealth contained in the treasury of the Southern states was amounted to about $1 million (Schulman). Considering that the Northern states withheld 70% of the nation's money, it is assumed that the North had about $3.3 million in their possession (Schulman). Therefore not only was economic inequality in existence during The War Between the States, but it was very distinct. Along with actual currency, wealth in the South can be observed in the ownership of slaves. According to Marc Schulman, 384,000 out of 1.6 million white families owned at least one slave. Not only that, but a mere 14 white citizens owned 1000 or more slaves (Schulman). Only the wealthy had enough money for slaves. So based on the presented facts, it can be deduced that most of the wealth went to the upper